Genre: Documentary
- Own Voice
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story
A moving portrait that shines a light on the career of a trailblazer who was ahead of her time, this incredible story won the Special Jury Prize for Best Canadian Feature at Hot Docs 2024.
“A compelling investigation of an elusive life, as well as a talent so striking you’ll be amazed it remained forgotten for so long.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety
Directors
Michael Mabbott
Writer/director Mabbott made his debut with 2005’s Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, winning Best Canadian First Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. He followed with Citizen Duane and television shows like Baxter and The Yard. His short documentary Music Lessons premiered at Hot Docs 2015. He also wrote, produced, and co-directed Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, which was named to the TIFF 2024 Top Ten List.
Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
Lucah Rosenberg-Lee is an independent filmmaker, speaker and entrepreneur. He is passionate about telling the stories of marginalized voices through film and he specializes in documentary and LGBTQ+ content. He produced For Nonna Anna, which won the Best Narrative Short Award at the Atlanta Film Festival, and he co-directed the 2024 films Passing and Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, which won the DGC Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs 2024.
Writers
Alison Duke, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, Michael Mabbott
Cast
Rob Bowman, James Baley, Bobby Dean Blackburn
Producers
Janet Bradey, Justine Pimlott, Michael Mabbott
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Arts and Culture, Biography, BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, Discrimination, History, LGBTQ2S+, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Language Version
FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
- Own Voice
Yintah
Capturing footage that startlingly echoes Alanis Obomsawin’s 1994 film Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, this is a story we can’t afford to forget. Winner of the Audience Award at Hot Docs 2024.
“An incendiary feat of filmmaking” – Pat Mullen, POV Magazine
Directors
Brenda Michell (Wet'suwet'en)
Brenda Mitchell is Tsakë ze’ K‑eltiy (a hereditary chief) of the Unist'ot'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. In addition to participating in Wet’suwet’en governance, she has worked in post-secondary education for the Lake Babine Nation Band for decades, and is currently a resident Elder, language teacher and addictions counselor. Yintah is her first documentary.
Jennifer Wickham (Wet'suwet'en)
A member of the Cas Yikh (Grizzly House) of the Gidimt’en (Bear/Wolf) Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, Wickham is a poet, youth advocate, and a committed land defender and activist whose work includes language and culture revitalization. She has worked as Media Coordinator for Gidimt’en Checkpoint since 2018. Yintah is her first documentary.
Michael Toledano
Michael Toledano is a journalist, photographer, and documentarian whose work focuses on environmental pollution and Indigenous land defense. His reporting has appeared on Al Jazeera America, VICE, Ricochet, Upworthy, Rabble, and other outlets. His footage has appeared on CBC News, CTV, CP24, CityNews, APTN, and Democracy Now. Yintah is his first feature documentary.
Producer
Bob Moore
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Environment, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Eyesteel Film
I Am The Blues
A musical journey through the swamps of the Louisiana Bayou, the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta and Moonshine soaked BBQs in the North Mississippi Hill Country. Visiting the last original blues devils, many in their 80s, still living in the deep south, working without management and touring the Chitlin’ Circuit. Let Bobby Rush, Barbara Lynn, Henry Gray, Carol Fran, Lazy Lester, Bilbo Walker, RL Boyce, Jimmy ’Duck’ Holmes, Lil Buck Sinegal, LC Ulmer and their friends awaken the blues in all of us.
Director
Daniel Cross
Genre
Documentary
Interest
BIPOC Stories
Original Language
English
Modern Whore
By turns earnest and riotously entertaining, this documentary feature expands on director Nicole Bazuin and performer and co-writer Andrea Werhun’s book and short film of the same name. Werhun interviews a diverse community of sex workers and dancers, exploring their professions’ risks and rewards. Modern Whore is a revealing film that exposes the silencing effects of shame and stigma, a culture that fetishizes trauma, and the vulnerabilities that underlie a lack of labour protections.
Director
Nicole Bazuin
Cast
Andrea Werhun
Genres
Documentary, Drama
Original Language
English
Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story
Trudy Vachon was a soft-spoken teen with an unusual dream: she wanted to carry on in the footsteps of her famous dad, Paul “Butcher” Vachon, and her uncle Mad Dog. Defying expectations for “lady wrestlers”, who were typically treated as bimbos at the time, she adopted a demonic snarl and the nickname Luna, and shaved half her head: a Heavy Metal fighter, and genuinely scary (even to friends and family). Kate Kroll’s touching documentary mixes admiration with sadness: Luna was bipolar, and the wrestling world she grew up in was riven with abuse. She achieved fame, even got her own action doll, but her life was full of pain and heartache.
Director
Kate Kroll
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Starwalker
Welcome to the House of Borealis! For Star (Dillian Chiblow), this East Van drag house is the home they’ve been searching for, an alternate family that’s genuinely supportive and inspiring. At its centre is Mother (Stewart Adam McKensy), who’s seen it all, been it all, and somehow knits together a wayward group of orphans and runaways. Corey Payette’s musical blends drag spectacle, Indigenous storytelling, and soaring emotion in a film that celebrates chosen family and the liberating magic of performance.
Director
Corey Payette (Anishinaabe)
Genre
Documentary
Interest
BIPOC Stories
Original Language
English
Mais où va-t-on, coyote? (Spare My Bones, Coyote!)
Director
Jonah Malak
Producer
Dominique Dussault
Genre
Documentary
Original Languages
English, French, Other Language
Graham Greene: I’m Just Me
Director
Tara Johns
Cast
Graham Greene
Producer
Robert Vroom
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Cult & Offbeat Cinema
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
The Stand
Director
Christopher Auchter (Haida)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Soul of the Foot
Director
Mustafa Uzuner
Genre
Documentary
Interest
BIPOC Stories
Original Language
Other Language
Blue Rodeo: Lost Together
Director
Dale Heslip
Cast
Jim Cuddy, Greg Keelor, Bazil Donovan
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
R. Roussil, le cul par terre (R. Roussil, From the Ground Up)
Director
Maxime-Claude L'Écuyer
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
French
L’océan vu du coeur
Directors
Marie-Dominique Michaud, Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol
Writer
Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol
Cast
Frédéric Lenoir, Hubert Reeves, Gilles Boeuf
Producers
Marie-Dominique Michaud, Chantale Page, Jacques Blain
Genre
Documentary
Original Languages
English, French
Sur la corde raide (High Wire)
Directors
Claude Guilmain, Christian Langlois
Writer
Claude Guilmain
Cast
Jean Chrétien
Producers
Dominic Desjardins, Denis McCready
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Call of the Orcas
Director
Jessica Plumb
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Environment
Original Language
English
Salmon Secrets
Director
Jérémy Mathieu
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Environment
Original Language
English
Shared Waters, Shared Crisis
Director
Jessica Plumb
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Environment
Original Language
English
Last Ice Age
Directors
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Adam Loften
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Environment, History
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Eastern Slopes
Directors
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
A Cliff Becomes a Bridge
Director
Warda Rose Youssouf
Cast
Amira Youssouf
Producer
Warda Rose Youssouf
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English